TechCabal Daily: Flashback Friday

Hey there! Today’s TechCabal digest is brought to you by DIYlaw; get N2000 off your next company incorporation here with our coupon code – DIYLAWTC. Here’s everything interesting in African technology today.

Friday!

1. Mara Social Media has acquired Nimbuzz. Remember Nimbuzz?! That orange-themed messaging/social media client that was a hit before iPhones and Androids were a thing. Well, now it’s part of the Mara group and it’ll be integrated with existing Mara platforms including Mara Jobs and Mara Mentor.

2. The Nigerian Immigration Service (NIS) has announced an online Visa-on-Arrival (VOA) facility that will allow travellers apply and pay for visas online before receiving them at VOA desks in international airports. This move is to attract foreign investors to Nigeria, as well as reduce the hassles that come with visa applications. This is all great and sweet. I just hope it ACTUALLY works.

3. Yet another ride-sharing service has launched, and this time it’s in Lagos. TuleTaxi is the name, and scheduled rides is the game. Honestly. That’s their value proposition – the ability to schedule trips in addition to being an on-demand service. According to the Country Manager for Nigeria, TuleTaxi’s target market is “efficient business people.” If I had a dollar for everytime one of these things popped up…

4. WorldRemit and the KCB Kenya have partnered in a deal that will enable Kenyans living at home to receive money from their loved ones abroad in KCB branches across the country. Next on the list is a feature that will allow users perform instant international transfers to KCB bank accounts

Other interesting things…

+ Simeon Ononobi’s piece on how to make sure your startup is really innovating. Link.

+ The Tony Elumelu Foundation (TEF) has selected the third cohort of the 10-year $100 million TEF Entrepreneurship Programme. As with the previous years, 1000 entrepreneurs were chosen from all over Africa. These entrepreneurs will be trained and mentored for nine months after which they’ll be eligible to receive up to $1000 in seed funding. Link.

+ South Africa’s Delvv.io will be competing at the Startup World Cup Grand Finale for a chance to win $1 million in San Francisco today. That’s the only African startup that made it to the finals, so I’m sending over as many positive vibes as possible. Link.

+ The Reel Fruits crew went over to Kaduna as part of their journey to scale mango production in Nigeria. The situation there was better than what they found in Benue, but there’s a lot left to be desired. Link.

+ Gossy Ukanwoke’s first Medium post. It’s about his journey so far in the quest to empower African students with easier access to higher education. Link.

+ “Android is actually designed for high-end tinkerers and iOS for normal people, but distribution is the reverse” – Benedict Evans’ thoughts on Android based on this report on smartphone use in Kenya. S/o to Seyi Taylor for turning Benedict’s Twitter thread into a Moment. Link.

Hot topics on Radar

+ Our AMA with Nanjira Sambuli was lit! Great questions, greater answers, so many quotables (e.g. “The African millennial faces undue pressure to ‘entrepreneur'”). If you missed it (honestly, you need to stop missing these AMAs), you can read all about it here.

This April, ChatClass NG is offering a 2-month program designed to develop and support social media managers. The program will feature a thorough masterclass, real-life assessments and internships. Apply here if you’re interested. Deadline’s April 1st.

And the tweet of the week goes to…

Izzy Oji who’s apparently excited for Android Oreo…or Android Okra soup…or Android Oxtail. It’s actually a (hilarious) thread of her guessing what the next Android version will be called. Remember when we wanted Android N to be Nkwobi? :’)

Upcoming events…

Accra: British Council Enterprise Africa Summit, March 22 – March 24. Link.